What is the best way to mature spiritually? Once a recluse asked the foundress why she continued to be depressed. Since her voluntary segregation, she recollected no animosity, greed, or arrogance on her part. The foundress made a comparison of the person who is a recluse to a mirror that is in an abandoned house. She said that even a mirror that is not used has accumulates dust. This dust, once it is ingrained in the mirror is difficult to remove. What does this mean?

In our religion, dust represents the evils of greed, arrogance, and self-love in our minds. We believe that these dusts eventually come back to us as suffering and inconveniences in our lives. What we sow, we reap. These suffering and inconveniences are the tools that test our faith; and give us an opportunity to plant new seeds that will blossom into joy or suffering. Our responses to our sufferings determine our future. By being segregated, one essentially closes the door to the purification of the mind and we become depressed.

It is easy path to isolate and live with people you agree with, but it may not be the path to spiritual maturity. It is said that the world reflects our minds. When we shut ourselves from the world, we cannot see our spiritual maturation and we become depressed.